India’s jumps coach sees potential but feels the road ahead to glory won’t be easy
India’s jumps coach sees potential but feels the road ahead to glory won’t be easy
BENGALURU: Dennis Kapustin is healthy in his admiration for M. Harikrishnan. Russian Kapustin, appointed as India’s jump coach about five months ago, could not travel to Eugene for the World Championships or Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games due to visa-related issues.
That didn’t stop triple-jumpers Aldhos Paul and Abdullah Abubakar from clinching Commonwealth gold and silver medals, here were some online lessons by SAI South Centre’s coach Harikrishnan.
“I am very happy and feel a part of this success,” Kapustin says. “But I can’t say that I gave much” [inputs], I have recently joined. So, all the credit goes to coach Hari.”
Central role
However, for the next two years until the Paris 2024 Olympics, Kapustin’s role is expected to be central. Four Indian men are involved in the top-25 triple-jump distance this season – Aldhos and Abubakar along with Praveen Chitravel and Karthik Unnikrishnan. But his best is still far from the medal-winning distance at the world level, which is often above 17.50 metres.
“His performance is good enough for the Commonwealth Games, but he needs to train harder and reduce technical mistakes for the future,” says Kapustin. “In a competition you can only win by one [good] hop. Aldhos proved it.
“At Birmingham, he had 16:30, 16:40 … and a big win. He jumped 17cm behind the line and did 17.03. So, he has room. But still, it’s the world and the Olympics.” is not enough.”
But what gives Kapustin hope is that Aldhos finished ninth at Worlds on debut and Abubacker has shown significant improvement over the past few months.
“Abdullah has a different jumping style, more focused on strength and I love it,” Kapustin says.
“He has increased his results by 40cm this season. That’s a big progress. He was just a centimeter away from Aldhos (from 17.02 to 17.03). I lost my silver medal in Sydney 2000 by just a cm,” he said. So I know the value of every centimeter.”
But rapid improvements in field events are extremely difficult; The world records for the men’s high jump, long jump and triple jump are 27 years old or older. The triple jump, in particular, requires the right combination of speed, strength and coordination in the hop, step and jump steps.
“If you want to increase your speed and strength, the risk of getting injured like Neeraj is very high” [Chopra] Worlds. taken in [in javelin],” Kapustin explains. “In our sport, like in Formula One, things can go wrong in a second. The triple jump is beautiful to watch, but very technical.”
“But athletes have surprises. Someday they’ll suddenly jump half a meter more. It’s not like the lottery, but there’s always an element of surprise to it. The CWG wasn’t exactly a surprise, although I was worried after the world. And I look forward to seeing him on the podium again.”